Office Gossip
by ClaireStar
Summary: Troy and Connor have some opinions on Dr. Danielle Santino and Nico Careles.


Troy and Connor waited until the room had emptied from the staff meeting.

Troy arched an eyebrow. "So, Dr. Santino and Nico, huh?"

Connor nodded, "I would have to assume so."

"Are they trying to keep it a secret? I mean, all he does is stare at her. And have you ever tried to have a meeting with just the two of them? The eye-locking, then the looking away, the fraught statements, the subtext? It's exhausting."

Connor smirked, "Tell me about it. At our last meeting I had to drop a book to get their attention."

Troy rolled his eyes, "They are lucky that they are so good at their jobs."

Connor hesitated, then said, "Well, as long as they aren't working together. Paloma said that it took Nico 90 minutes to upload some basic software on Dr. Dani's computer and that he had his arm draped over the back of her chair the whole time."

Troy looked puzzled. "Couldn't an intern do that? I mean, the software, not the arm-draping."

Connor laughed. "A PUPPY could do that. "

Connor paused, thinking. "Did you see them at the cocktail party the other day? They were just standing there, in silence, staring at each other. I clocked it at six minutes before I went over."

Troy said, "Speaking of the cocktail party, how did Nico handle the news that Dr. Dani was going with you to Idaho for the weekend?"

Connor smiled impishly and said, "Not well. I mean, he didn't say anything, but I could feel him glaring at me for the rest of the day. I mean, seriously, I could feel it. It was like my back was burning. He's kind of scary."

Troy looked at his partner knowingly. "Admit it. You just asked her to go to get to Nico, didn't you?"

Connor looked up the ceiling, an innocent expression on his face. "Of course not. It made complete business sense to bring our newly-hired therapist to a meeting of the most powerful CEOs in the world."

They both laughed.

They spied Doctor Dani walking to the elevator and took a second to look at her unobserved.

Connor said, "Besides, she really is cute. There's something about that husky laugh and those big brown eyes. She's just so _adorable_."

Troy nodded. "Totally. I don't even LIKE her and I find myself daydreaming about cuddling her. Just cuddling. It's weird."

Connor, "Have you ever noticed how she wrinkles up her nose when she doesn't like something?"

Troy said, "Yeah, and she does the cutest little squint."

Together they said, "And those ridiculous shoes."

Connor mused, "If she and Nico ever break up, I wouldn't mind getting to know her better."

Troy looked at him sharply. "Get in line."

They glanced outside the office and saw Nico making a beeline to their door. He didn't look happy.

Connor said, "Oh my God, Nico's coming."

Troy nodded, keeping a smile on his face while saying through gritted teeth. "I know. Do you think he heard us?"

Connor shook his head, maintaining a casual smile. "No. It's impossible. Right?"

Troy said, "Well, if he asks, tell him we were talking about ways we could engage in accounting fraud, or whether we could engage in human trafficking via our international offices. ANYTHING other than mentioning You Know Who."

Connor nodded in welcome as Nico started to open the door. "Nico, my man!"

Nico nodded. "What's going on? You seemed to be having a pretty lively discussion." He was stone-faced.

Connor answered, maybe too quickly. "Nothing much. We were just talking about…" He paused, at a loss for ideas.

Troy jumped in to fill the conversational gap. "Porn." Connor, recovering, said, at the same time, "Accounting."

Together, they said, "Accounting porn."

Connor said, "Yeah, we love the stuff."

Troy said feebly. "I love those green visors."

Nico said, "OK, well I guess I'll get back to what I was doing then."

Connor smiled. "Great!"

Nico left and the two men turned to each other. Connor hissed, "Accounting porn?" Troy said, "I couldn't think of anything else and he was giving me that look."

The two men were silent.

Connor sighed. "Damn, he is one scary guy."

Troy didn't acknowledge this. He had a faraway look in his eyes. "Have you ever noticed how she smells like flowers and sugar cookies?" He smiled to himself.


End file.
